Artemis was absolutely not going to bang his head on his desk.
Nope. Not him.
Why would he? It wasn't as though he was searching for a long-forgotten species, or searching an entire library for a 600+ year old man when he was supposed to be doing his homework. He'd done both of those things before, and had never once felt like slamming the keyboard, or vandalizing his desk.
Then why, WHY was fixing his computer so ridiculously difficult?
"I," Artemis huffed with a screwdriver clenched between his teeth, "Am Artemis Fowl the Second. I am a certified genius with the highest IQ in all of Europe, I have proved the existence of fairies, beat Stefan Bashkir at chess in 7 moves and published 3 successful romance novels." he gritted out, "I will not be bested by a measly laptop!"
The laptop didn't agree with him.
At this point, you're probably wondering why the great Artemis Fowl can't fix a laptop.
It's because he's the one who broke it in the first place. And as good as Artemis is at fixing things, he's a lot better at breaking them.
Artemis had been having a very... quiet summer. Two years of research had finally payed off, and Artemis' master plan had begun. Butler had been spending full moon nights next to random oak trees, in hopes of catching a fairy. At first, he had insisted on Artemis coming along too, but after he fell asleep on their first few stakeouts, they both agreed that it was best for him to stay home. They hadn't caught one yet, but that was probably a good thing, seeing as he still hadn't managed to get his hands on the fairy's sacred Book.
And now, he was working on how to make electronics work at Hogwarts.
Usually he would've figured that out ages ago, but he had run into a small hiccup.
He broke the laptop that held the solution to all of his problems.
The laptop in question is the very same one he had snagged from the Third corridor during his time at Hogwarts. Artemis had been studying it in hopes of learning how to magic-proof his own laptop. But then.... well, Butler happened.
In Butler's defense, it really wasn't his fault. He had startled Artemis in the middle of one of his brainstorming sessions, which is one of the most dangerous things you can do in Fowl Manor. Artemis had somehow managed to flip a table over in his shock, sending the laptop flying. Don't ask him how. A genius works in strange ways.
Artemis groaned, abandoning the laptop for the time being. He decided to start packing for his second year at Hogwarts. He hadn't bothered heading to Diagon Alley this year, and had instead sent Butler to purchase his supplies instead. And according to Butler, it was a good thing he had done so. Butler had come home raving about some fellow named 'Gilderoy Lockhart' , who was apparently some sort of 'celebrity'.
"That man is unbearable!" ,Butler had said, "And can you believe that he's going to be teaching at your school? The idiot will be sent blubbering to an asylum by the time you're done with him. The poor fellow has no idea what he's up against." he had stated confidently.
Artemis had raised an eyebrow, "That bad? Usually you're against that sort of thing."
"Trust me." he had said darkly, "This man deserves it."
Flipping through his Defense Against the Dark Arts books now, he could see what Butler meant. Not a single thing that- that moron had written would hold up in an actual fight!
"A homomorphus charm?" he snorted, "Even Longbottom would know that there's no such thing. Even if there was, it wouldn't work on a werewolf."
He slammed the book shut, "I can't read another page of this abomination." he muttered, tossing it into his trunk.
As he looked through his drawer for 'Hogwarts: A History' , he came across a small notebook. He pulled it out and started flipping through the pages thoughtfully.
"My list of things that are odd about Nico." he murmured, "I wondered where that went."
Artemis was no idiot. He hadn't bought Nico's story about his 'family gifts' for a minute. Okay, he had bought it for a while, but once he got home and could leisurely browse through several books on notable wizards through the ages, he noticed that shadow powers were noticeably absent. Even if his family was under a different name, there was no description anywhere about any powers even close to Nico's. Sure, some people could practice umbrakinesis, but not on Nico's level. It shouldn't even be possible for an 11 year old kid to manipulate shadows that much. It shouldn't be possible for anyone to manipulate shadows that much!
Artemis had considered the possibility that Nico's family preferred to keep their talents hidden, but if there was one thing he knew for sure about wizards, it was that they couldn't keep their mouths shut. If they had something powerful in their possession, someone or the other would give in to the urge to boast, and the next day, the entire country would know. Soon enough, it would end up in a bedtime story that parents would use to scare their kids. No wizarding family on earth would be able to keep a secret like that for long. So that left two options. Either Nico was lying about his gift, which was unlikely since Artemis himself had seen it in action, or....
Nico wasn't a wizard.
Artemis looked up as he heard someone knocking on his door.
"Come in." he called.
Butler walked in, taking in the surrounding as he always did. His eyes lingered on the notebook in his hands, "Weird things about Nico? Short kid, emo, messy black hair? Isn't that kid your friend?" he asked.
"He is."
"Then why do you have a 2 page long list of things that are weird about him?"
"Because," Artemis explained, "Nico isn't who he says he is. And I need to find out what he's hiding."
"Why do you need to do that?" Butler asked, confused.
"Because I am Artemis Fowl!" He declared indignantly, "I don't back down from a mystery!"
"Maybe you should back down from this one." Butler suggested, "Friends don't poke their noses in each other's business."
"They don't?"
"No. If Nico is hiding something, it's because he's not comfortable with other people knowing. Maybe you should just... let it go."
Artemis stared at the notebook. Could Butler be right? Come to think about it, Butler was usually right when it came to emotional matters. He could live with one unsolved mystery. Probably.
But still...
He tossed the notebook into his trunk.
"Just in case." he said, noticing Butler's disapproving frown.
****Line Break****
Artemis watched as Athena carried away three different letters. He probably wouldn't be seeing her for a while.
One of the letters was for Nico. He wrote to Nico every week, but Nico hadn't responded in 2 months, and believe it or not, he was starting to get worried. He was starting to wonder if he had scared him off by sending him a copy of his favorite myth/romance novel, the story of Hades and Persephone(which was ironically, the very first myth he had bothered to read). Artemis had recently found himself even more obsessed with Greek mythology than usual(which was saying something), ever since Butler had got those books for him at the end of the last school year. Artemis had immediately noticed the similarities between Nico and Hades, and had even considered writing a theatrical adaptation of the myth and asking Nico to play the part of Hades. But he had a feeling that Nico wouldn't appreciate that.
The second letter was meant for the Weasley twins, and had no more than a few sentences.
I accept your proposal. But if we're doing this, we're doing it right. The new DADA teacher is a moron. Prepare for Plan ATAMAP. Grab extra supplies.
They'd know what to do. Hopefully.
The last letter was meant to be for Draco Malfoy. But for some reason, Draco hadn't replied to any of his letters either. Artemis wasn't the paranoid type(most of the time anyway) but he was starting to find it suspicious that neither of his friends showed any signs of having received his letters. It was almost as though they were ignoring him. But why? They wouldn't do that! Would they?
As Artemis washed the last droplets of ink off his hands, he thought, "The school year hasn't even begun yet, and it's already shaping up to be quite mysterious."
A.N:
Hey there!
Merry Christmas!
Remember how I was all like, "The sequel will be up by next Sunday"? I lied.
Not that I meant to, obviously. But... I got sick. And it's kind of hard to write when you can barely think straight.
So what did you think of this chapter?
These first few chapters will just be an introduction. Sorry if this chapter was a bit lame. Like I said, it's kind of hard to think with a headache and a stuffed nose.
Yeah, I'm skipping Diagon Alley, because if Artemis went there, he'd probably kill Lockhart out of pure annoyance before the story could even begin. And Nico's off fighting a war, so....
You get the idea.
Next chapter we get to see Nico! And Hades!
Anyway, as usual, please vote and comment!
P.S: Sorry for any typos that I didn't notice.
-Keera😎